Orchestra of the Swan

A Beautiful Thread – Thomas Hardy in Words and Music

With Anton Lesser, Lucia Bonbright, and Orchestra of the Swan.

“I shall astonish you all!’ – Bathsheba Everdene

Starring Anton Lesser, A Beautiful Thread weaves Hardy’s life – dramatic as any of his books – with his beautiful poetry and great novels, including Far From the Madding Crowd, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure. Hardy put more music in his work than any other writer, and Orchestra of the Swan’s on-stage musicians weave Hardy’s own words with a dazzling performance of Holst, Purcell, and contemporary folk.

Anton Lesser (Endeavour, Wolf Hall, Game of Thrones) and Lucia Bonbright bring a huge cast to life: from Hardy, his mother, and his wives, Emma and Florence, to George Bernard Shaw, and Virginia Woolf, along with the immortal characters from his novels. A Beautiful Thread highlights Hardy’s humour (often overlooked!), his modernity, the astonishing time-span he lived through, and his global reach, from Wessex to Hollywood.

Hardy’s extraordinary writing shines bright as ever. Anton Lesser says: ‘Words and Music is a kind of unique genre, neither pure reading, nor acting, but with an immediacy that comes from the huge emotional impact the music has upon the words, and vice versa, and the interplay we as actors enjoy with the musicians on-stage. Quite simply, it’s the most enjoyable thing I’ve ever done!’

Narrators Anton Lesser, Lucia Bonbright

With Orchestra of the Swan

Director Judy Reaves

Music Director David Le Page

Writer Deirdre Shields

Producer Hambletts